US FAA chief to testify before Congress on Sept 24 on Boeing quality plan

6:04 pm Monday, September 16th, 2024

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The head of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will testify on Sept. 24 before the House of Representatives Transportation Committee on Boeing’s quality improvement plan, the committee said Monday.

FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker in late February gave Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to address “systemic quality-control issues.” Boeing delivered the plan in late May and the FAA is still assessing the planemaker’s reform efforts.

Boeing faces mounting scrutiny from Congress since a Jan. 5 mid-air emergency in a new Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9. Boeing did not immediately comment for this story.

On Sept. 25, Whitaker will testify before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations at a hearing titled “FAA Oversight of Boeing’s Broken Safety Culture.”

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the panel, told Reuters the FAA must explain its oversight of Boeing before the January Alaska Air incident.

“Instead of encouraging workers to report quality and safety concerns, Boeing’s culture pushed workers to conceal problems that required federal inspectors’ attention,” Blumenthal said. “The FAA has to explain what they knew and when they knew it. Boeing’s broken safety culture is in desperate need of repair, and the FAA has an essential role to play.”

In February, Whitaker barred Boeing from boosting production of its best-selling plane and required the company to submit a quality improvement plan. Whitaker also said the agency will continue increased on-site presence at Boeing for the foreseeable future.

“This is a very long term journey for Boeing. I think it’s going to be measured in years not months,” Whitaker told reporters last week in Washington. He said he plans to visit Boeing in Seattle to meet with Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg as soon as later this month.

In July, Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell asked the FAA to conduct a thorough review into its oversight of Boeing and other manufacturers.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)